A Study of Carbon Infiltrated Carbon Nanotubes Fabricated on Convex Cylindrical Substrates for the Creation of a Coronary Stent

• Main Author: Robison, Warren Beecroft
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2015
• Subjects: carbon infiltrated carbon nanotubes; coronary stent; cylindrical substrates; cracking; Mechanical Engineering
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5816; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6815&context=etd

This research explores the minimizing of cracks in the fabrication of carbon-infiltrated carbon nanotube (CI-CNT) forests on cylindrical rods for the purposes of creating a CI-CNT coronary stent. It is a continuation of the work begun by Jones [1] and Skousen [2] whose work included the creation of a feasible CI-CNT coronary stent on a planar surface. The current research was performed in two parts: 1) growth on the whole circumference of the rod for ~20mm in length and 2) growth in lines and patterns. Experiments were done on either a 309 or 304 stainless steel rod ~3mm in diameter.The following parameters were used for growth on the whole circumference of the rod: a 80nm alumina diffusion barrier, 1.3 or 7nm of iron as a catalyst layer for CNT growth and a growth time of 1 or 15 min. Cracking is observed on most samples. Area fraction of cracking is shown to be minimized with 7nm of iron and and 1 min growth time. The number of cracks was minimized with the 7nm of iron and 15 min growth time. The height of the CI-CNT forest, which is strongly influenced by the thickness of the iron layer and growth time, is shown to be a possible positive contributor to the area fraction of cracking. Level of carbon infiltration and rate of cooling were also included in the parameters of the study as possible contributors to the amount of cracking however no correlation was found to either of these factors. The second study maintained 80nm of alumina and used 7nm of iron and 10 min of growth time. Line angles parallel, at 7°, at 45° and perpendicular to the axis of the rod and line widths from 109µm to 500µm were studied. Line widths from 500µm to 1090µm were also included in the study of patterned lines perpendicular to the axis of the rod. Cracking was eliminated in the parallel and 7° lines. Cracking in the 45° lines was intermittent and significantly less than the cracking seen on the whole circumference. For the lines perpendicular to the axis, the uncracked arc length was calculated to be an average of 414µm with a standard deviation of 67µm. The uncracked arc length showed no correlation to the line width. A final aspect of this second study observed the cracking in a modification of the planar stent pattern created by Jones. The pattern was modified in to allow for patterning on the rod. The critical dimension maximums of the parent pattern were maintained. The experimental results showed that a continual CI-CNT forest could be fabricated to the minimum expected height of 150µm, a maximum width of 542µm and at the expected angle of 7° with minimal to no cracking.